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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24327988">A Mirror or a Window?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agent3Novi/pseuds/Agent3Novi'>Agent3Novi</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda &amp; Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Canon-Typical Violence, Crack Treated Seriously, False Identity, Fluff and Humor, From a prompt, Gen, I saw someone call this kind of thing "pulling a Vio" and I love it, Identity Swap, Misunderstandings, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Shadow's in too deep</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 05:48:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,847</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24327988</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agent3Novi/pseuds/Agent3Novi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"<i>The traveler in the patchwork tunic stuck a hand out to shake, “I’m… Link, the Hero of Light, nice to meet y’all,”<br/>Time took their hand, “Likewise.”<br/>Unbeknownst to them, Shadow was already regretting everything, but he knew it was way too late to back out now</i>"</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>(Or wherein Shadow gets yeeted through a portal and pretends to be his brother(s) in a desperate attempt to not get killed by the eight Links, shenanigans ensue)<br/>(Idea from <a href="https://linkeduniverse-prompts.tumblr.com/post/613067809891778560/four-has-not-once-been-with-the-links-the-whole">@linkeduniverse-prompts</a> on Tumblr, and Linked Universe AU by <a href="https://linkeduniverse.tumblr.com/post/171003303024/update-this-has-turned-into-a-full-story-now">@linkeduniverse</a>)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Blue Link &amp; Green Link &amp; Red Link &amp; Shadow Link &amp; Vio Link, Four (Linked Universe) &amp; Shadow Link, Shadow Link &amp; Zelda</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>100</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>361</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. This Group's Missing Someone, YEET</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I saw <a href="https://linkeduniverse-prompts.tumblr.com/post/613067809891778560/four-has-not-once-been-with-the-links-the-whole">this prompt</a> a long time ago but never saw anything written for it besides scene ideas sooooooo<br/>Here yee go!</p>
<p>First chapter is just Shadow joining the team, not sure if I'm gonna make chapter two the last one with the group ending up in his Hyrule and figuring out that he is <i>not<i> in fact the Hero of Light, but the actual Hero<i>es</i> of Light are totally chill with him impersonating them or if I'll add HyjinksTM as some padding chapters before that...</i></i></p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Oh uh also this has been read over 3+ times by my sleep deprived brain but there isn't any more editing than that so...</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Enjoy and make sure to check out the original AU at <a href="https://linkeduniverse.tumblr.com/post/171003303024/update-this-has-turned-into-a-full-story-now">linkeduniverse.tumblr.com</a></i>
  </i>
</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The reports of the monsters had come at the </span>
  <em>
    <span>worst</span>
  </em>
  <span> possible time, at least in Shadow’s eyes. Normally, reports of extra monster activity just got a knight or two and a few extra soldiers sent to the location and the problem would be solved in a few days. These ones however, said that the monsters were abnormally powerful.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>How </span>
  <em>
    <span>nice</span>
  </em>
  <span> of the reports to neglect the fact that they were </span>
  <em>
    <span>also</span>
  </em>
  <span> resistant to dark magic, seeing as how </span>
  <em>
    <span>Shadow</span>
  </em>
  <span> was stuck being the sole Hero-level powerhouse of the group sent to deal with monsters since the other four were busy with their own assignments.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Joy</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright, claws then-” Shadow hissed as the now-angrier moblin narrowly missed him with a spear. On the bright side, it wasn’t attacking that poor soldier anymore, the down side he was now facing down a Moblin </span>
  <em>
    <span>and</span>
  </em>
  <span> a Lizalfos and had to pull some possibly physics-breaking maneuvers to dodge their attacks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With a thought, his fingers shifted into claws and he swiped at the moblin. Where he was expecting gashes were instead small cuts that started dribbling black blood down its arm.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Gods, no wonder-” He bent out of an arrow’s bath, “-the meatsacks can’t deal with you guys-” the Moblin charged and he stuck out a foot to trip it, slashing its eye while it fell, “-you’re downright-” he leapt above the Lizalfos’s tail that was attempting to pull his feet out from under him, “-cheating-!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The tail suddenly shot up, wrapped around his ankle, and yanked him to the ground. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ah, smart.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Before he could retaliate there was a pulse of dark magic and a clawed hand grabbing the back of his shirt. He was flying through the air so fast, the only thought he had time for was </span>
  <em>
    <span>Hey that portal sure wasn’t there two seconds ago-</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>---</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>When Shadow came to, he was on the ground, in a valley nowhere </span>
  <em>
    <span>near</span>
  </em>
  <span> the forest he was supposed to be in. Also, the portal was gone, </span>
  <em>
    <span>and</span>
  </em>
  <span> he couldn’t sense the other four. His day just kept getting better and better. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>He stood up and brushed the grass and dirt off his hood and cloak. This was gonna be a nightmare to explain to Zel’ later. Hopefully she would be lenient because he, y’know, got </span>
  <em>
    <span>chucked into another universe against his will mid fight</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Not really much he could do about that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>A little bit of probing with magic revealed that there was no Dark World here. Yet another piece of evidence in the other-universe-theory pile. For those curious, the other pieces of evidence were that he had never seen this valley in his life (combining the duplicates with the Dark Mirror meant that he knew most of Hyrule front to back), and that there wasn't that usual </span>
  <em>
    <span>your-other-parts-are-alive-and-well</span>
  </em>
  <span> feeling in the back of his mind. There was something else there though, but he couldn’t quite pick out what it was.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>With that in mind, he started walking. No Dark World meant no shortcuts, which sucked, but at least the sun was setting so he wouldn’t have to worry about getting burned. There was a path a little ways off, which meant people and civilization, which meant information. Information was always a good first step, as Vio always reminded him and the other three. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>Slowly, Shadow’s thoughts began to wander as he followed the path. He wasn’t sure </span>
  <em>
    <span>which</span>
  </em>
  <span> direction a settlement would be in. The sun had set by now… actually it had been down for a while, hadn’t it? It could be a </span>
  <em>
    <span>long </span>
  </em>
  <span>time before he found anything… He probed the magic in the ground. A light, likely unintentional amount of guiding magic was woven into the ground under the path. The rocks and plants around were all seeped in residual dark magic- no, not dark magic, </span>
  <em>
    <span>pure Malice</span>
  </em>
  <span>, though the natural energy was slowly but surely snuffing it out. There were a some pockets of Malice, moving in the way that more volatile forms of magic do… moving upwards… right towards him-</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>He barely had the time to jump out of the way as dozens of Stalfos hands erupted from the ground. Mostly Stalkoblins, but there were a few Stalmoblins and Stalizalfos for flavor. He was </span>
  <em>
    <span>hoping</span>
  </em>
  <span> to get through without a fight, but he wouldn’t turn one down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>Or at least, that’s what Shadow thought until he discovered that most of his magic was </span>
  <em>
    <span>gone</span>
  </em>
  <span> when he tried to turn incorporeal and got clocked in the face instead. A burst of Force blew the offending skeleton apart, but didn’t disintegrate it like he was hoping it would. He dove out of the way of a particularly nasty Stalmoblin’s club and rolled. He hopped up and clawed a Stalkoblin, thankful that of </span>
  <em>
    <span>all</span>
  </em>
  <span> the magic to stay it was at least a little of his shapeshifting. A hand grabbed his arm, then a few more. A burst of Force was enough to get them off, and in the brief moment of reprieve Shadow noticed something. That little niggle in the back of his mind had intensified, and now he knew what it meant. A sense of green, gold, and light, as familiar as the blue, red, purple, and green of his counterparts, yet as foriegn as the valley he was fighting in.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <em>
    <span>Heroes</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and a </span>
  <em>
    <span>lot</span>
  </em>
  <span> of them, coming this way. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>A Stalizalfos got in a lucky swipe with its scavenged sword, and Shadow retaliated by kicking it into the Stalmoblin behind it. Stal monsters would attack anything that moved, no care for sides, but Heroes? Oh they </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>cared about sides. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>A few of the bones started wiggling and reforming. Shadow quickly stomped on the skulls laying on the ground while trying to dodge the attacking coming in from all sides. He doubted any Hero would take kindly to one of their “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Dark Reflections</span>
  </em>
  <span>”, one that was a former minion of Ganon, and if he had read the residual magic correctly, they </span>
  <em>
    <span>definitely</span>
  </em>
  <span> wouldn’t take kindly to a Shadowling who was suspiciously similar to whoever was creating all those monster-spewing portals.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>A Stalizalfos’s arm came whizzing by his face, he grabbed it and yanked the offending limb out of its socket before whipping around and bashing the Stalizalfos’s skull in. He couldn’t help but quip, “Stop hitting yourself!” as he smacked the disintegrating bones a second time. Oddly, the arm bones in his grip stayed solid. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>The Heroes were just around that bend, coming quickly. He didn’t know how they would react to a Shadowling being ganged-up on by a bunch of Stal monsters. Would they attack him or save him?</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>Though… he </span>
  <em>
    <span>did </span>
  </em>
  <span>know how they’d react to a fellow </span>
  <em>
    <span>Hero</span>
  </em>
  <span> in trouble- A Stalkoblin got its head knocked off it’s shoulders. His magic was depleted from this fight and earlier, but maybe, just </span>
  <em>
    <span>maybe</span>
  </em>
  <span>-</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>---</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>When the eight Links rounded the corner of the path, they were met with the sight of ten Stal monsters hounding a short traveler. They lept into action immediately. Wind darted through to stab the Stalkoblin that had grabbed onto the traveler, and they sent him a thankful look as it disintegrated. Warriors managed to destroy three at once, though one of the straggling heads was taken care of by Legend after he disarmed a Stalizalfos. Time and Twilight took down a Stalmoblin. Wild managed to snipe the remaining two Stalmoblins, the arrows weren’t quite enough to break the skulls but Sky soon took care of that. The last two Stalizalfos were taken out by Hyrule’s Fire spell.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>As the dust settled, Time called out “Alright, anyone injured?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>There was a chorus of no’s, but then the traveler winced and muttered, “er… yeah, but I’ll be fine.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>Sky raised an eyebrow as he saw the numerous bruises, cuts, and scrapes on them. He reached into his bag and pulled out a bottle, “Are you sure? We have potions if you need one.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>The traveler rolled their blue eyes, but took the bottle and poured a bit into their hand before handing the mostly-still-full bottle back to Sky, “Just a bit ‘ll be enough. I’ve had worse, these guys just caught me off guard.” there was an oddly defensive edge to the tone, but it was gone as quickly as their injuries after they drank the red liquid.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>The group started to put away their bags and weapons, but they all froze at the traveler’s voice, “Say… one of y’all wouldn’t happen to be the hero, would you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>“Maybe… why’re you asking?” Wild narrowed his eyes. They </span>
  <em>
    <span>were</span>
  </em>
  <span> in </span>
  <em>
    <span>his</span>
  </em>
  <span> Hyrule…</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>The blond shrugged and smirked, “‘Cause I thought the hero </span>
  <em>
    <span>here</span>
  </em>
  <span> might be able to help me out with my little dimensional-displacement problem, that’s why.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>There was a pause, then Time asked, “Are you a hero too?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>They nodded, “Yep” then the traveler in the patchwork tunic stuck a hand out to shake, “I’m… Link, the Hero of Light, nice to meet y’all,”</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>Time took their hand, “Likewise.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>Unbeknownst to them, Shadow was already regretting everything, but he knew it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>way</span>
  </em>
  <span> too late to back out now. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. What Do You MEAN There's FIVE of Them?!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry if this chapter's a bit shorter and/or worse than the previous one, writers block decided to rear its ugly head the day after I posted the last chapter so this was tough to write and edit.</p>
<p>Anyways, hope y'all like the chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
  <span>How long had he been traveling with the group by now, Shadow wondered. A month? Two? Time was hard to keep track of with all the different Hyrules they traveled between. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>In that time, Shadow, or </span>
  <em>
    <span>Four</span>
  </em>
  <span> as he had been nicknamed, had grown to like the ragtag group of Links almost like a second set of brothers. Wild and Wind were his favorites, they all shared the same deep-seated love of chaos. Legend and Warriors were always good for a few rounds of Brotherly Bickering and/or sparring. It was fun to discuss and practice different types of magic with Hyrule. Time was that kind of level-headed leader type that Shadow could see Green becoming (not that his brother wasn’t a good leader, it’s just he had a </span>
  <em>
    <span>lot</span>
  </em>
  <span> of anxiety and self-sacrifice issues he needed to work through) and was an all around great guy somehow keeping the group alive, together, and sane. Sky was the same kind of sweet cinnamon roll of a person that Red was, and by that Shadow meant he was the nicest person ever until you pissed him off or hurt one of his friends, in which case you better pray for Hylia’s mercy before he kicks your ass all the way to the Dark World. Twilight was pretty chill, since he was pretty much the </span>
  <em>
    <span>only</span>
  </em>
  <span> other Link in the group who didn’t mind dark magic and in fact used it, the two of them got pretty close just by nature of not needing to hide their secrets (as much) around each other. (Twi still didn’t know about the impersonation-for-survival thing, and that was a secret Shadow was </span>
  <em>
    <span>happy</span>
  </em>
  <span> to keep to himself)</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>So far they had visited everyone’s Hyrule except for Shadow’s, whether through the portals or “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Switching</span>
  </em>
  <span>”, as the spontaneous teleportation to a new world had been so creatively dubbed. Part of him was glad for that. Besides the frankly obscene amount of sun in Sky’s and Wind’s Hyrules, it was fun to explore and learn about how Hyrule changed between eras and functioned in each one. He always tried to grab a souvenir or two from each, usually a book but sometimes things like plants or a charm with an era-unique enchantment. Oh man were Zel’ and his brothers gonna lose their minds when he gave them all their presents.</span>
</p>
<p><span>Speaking of Zelda and his brothers, that other part of him that wasn’t happy? Yeah, it was homesick as </span><em><span>hell</span></em><span>. The new group and worlds were great and all, but there were some moments where Shadow just wanted to scream and revert back to his true form and run back to the castle to read with Vio and Zelda or sew with Blue or cook with Green or snuggle in a plushie-pile with Red or to just</span> <span>take a gods damned</span><em><span> nap alone</span></em><span> in the Dark Mirror like the good ol’ days when he didn’t have to keep his </span><em><span>entire identity</span></em><span> a secret (Cripes, was </span><em><span>this</span></em><span> how Vio felt way back when? Like, Shadow wasn’t gonna betray the group or anything but </span><em><span>damn.</span></em><span> He was gonna give Vio a good strong hug when he got back). Shadow was also worried sick about the five. Were they able to take care of the other monsters? Did they end up on the wrong side of another portal, lost and alone like he almost was? </span></p>
<p>
  
  <span>Well, at least he wouldn’t be left wondering about them for much longer.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>“Okay, last check, everyone ready to move on?” Time turned to face the group. There was a chorus of yes’s as everyone triple-checked their bags. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>They had spent the last three days in Legend’s Hyrule, the first was spent locating the infected monsters, the second getting rid of them and finding the next portal, and the third was to restock on supplies and generally rest. Now here they were, in front of the portal and ready to move on.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>Four stared at the swirling blacks, reds, and purples. Something about this one drew his attention like none of the others, a nagging feeling in the back of his mind. It felt… familiar and enticing, more so than the previous portals, in a way that made him want to ignore the group protocol of going through in pairs and just throw himself through, others’ worry be damned. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>Before he could act on that compulsion, his and the entire group’s attention was drawn to something completely different.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>A potted plant had just gotten tossed through the portal and landed with a </span>
  <em>
    <span>thump</span>
  </em>
  <span> on the grass.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>Everyone stared. There were a few beats of silence before Sky broke it with “Well that’s new.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>Wild bent down to poke it. For all intents and purposes, it was a perfectly normal sapling. Now that the whole group was looking closer, they also noticed a string tied around the pot and leading back into the portal. Four picked up the pot and examined it, the pot and string were enchanted with a durability charm. Whoever sent it through probably didn’t want it breaking, but that still left the question of </span>
  <em>
    <span>why</span>
  </em>
  <span> they would send it through in the first place.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>The group was talking again, but Four was only half listening, too engrossed in examining the potted plant. Something else was buried in the soil, something round and flat like a coin, but bigger and green and fizzling with old magic. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>Suddenly, the string was pulled taut and the pot jumped out of his hands. Four quickly grabbed it again, more out of instinct than anything else. Before anyone could do anything, the pot was pulled fully through the portal, dragging Four along with it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>---</span>
</p>
<p>
  
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Again, really?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Four grumbled through a facefull of dirt. At least the last time he got thrown through a portal against his will it had the decency to have him land on his back. Ah well, at least he still had the pot.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He could hear the expected </span>
  <em>
    <span>vwoop</span>
  </em>
  <span>s and footfalls of the group coming from somewhere behind him. He did not expect the clatter of a pen and clipboard falling and sudden dead silence that followed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He </span>
  <em>
    <span>also</span>
  </em>
  <span> did not expect the return of a comforting feeling that it had been weeks since he last felt. Something akin to having found a piece of yourself that had been missing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Slowly, hesitantly, Four spit the dirt in his mouth and raised his head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Green, Blue, Red, and Vio all met his gaze, slack jawed, then all shouted in unison “</span>
  <em>
    <span>SHADOW?!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“WHAT?!” The more verbal Links exclaimed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good to see you guys too,” Four, ah who was he kidding, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Shadow</span>
  </em>
  <span> grimaced.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Red all but pounced on him, pulling him up and wrapping him in the most bone-crushing hug he’d ever received. The other three weren’t far behind, and quickly it turned into the nicest group-glomp they’d ever had. Shadow wanted to savor it more, but soon the others had pulled back and Green had Shadow’s shoulder in a deathgrip and was giving him the I’m-going-to-strangle-you look, “Shadow, where the </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span> have you been for the past month and a half?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>And</span>
  </em>
  <span> why do you look like someone dumped you in a vat of rainbow dye?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Green’s glare soundly shut Blue up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ahaha, well…” Shadow raised a finger to gesture, “Funny story that-” With a little bit of magic he was </span>
  <em>
    <span>relishing</span>
  </em>
  <span> having back he slipped out of Green’s grasp and twirled around to face the Links, “but I’m sure that the gang could fill ya guys in while I go say hi to Zel’ ‘cause gee it’s just been so </span>
  <em>
    <span>long</span>
  </em>
  <span> since I’ve seen y’all and I wanna make sure she ain’t too worried-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With an obscuring cloud of magic smoke, Shadow slipped past </span>
  <em>
    <span>many</span>
  </em>
  <span> attempts to grab him and stepped into the Dark World to start booking it to the castle. Zelda’s lecture would not be kind by </span>
  <em>
    <span>any</span>
  </em>
  <span> stretch of the imagination, but it would be </span>
  <em>
    <span>worlds</span>
  </em>
  <span> better than the confused chaos he just escaped.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Anyone who can figure out why the Four were throwing a potted plant and a Kinstone through a portal gets a virtual cookie from me :)</p>
<p>Hope you enjoyed!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Comments and kudos keep my inspiration up! Also if you have Silly Ideas you want a scene for lemme know!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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